That a was very nice thread, with a happy ending. Gotta love those. Thanks for taking us along with you on your precarious ride.

As for the magnet...I believe these are the "cow" magnets. Something about putting these magnets in the cows stomach to catch accidently swallowed metal, nails and such.

Anyway, these magnets are being used on old VW's. Old veedub engines dont have oil filters, so one trick was to put one of these magnet in the oil strainer area.

Here is a link
Cow Magnet